Area Development News Desk

05/15/2013

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ROSSETTI, an international architectural planning and design firm, plans to move its headquarters to the historic Federal Reserve building located at Fort and Shelby Streets in the heart of downtown Detroit, Michigan.

Beginning this July, ROSSETTI's team of 60 architects, planners and designers will occupy the fourth floor, or 13,000 square feet of space in the Federal building located at 160 Fort Street, which has been vacant since 2004.

Rock Ventures, an umbrella entity formed to provide operational coordination, guidance, and integration of a diverse portfolio of companies, investments and real estate, purchased the 176,000 square foot Federal Reserve building last year. The original structure was built in 1927. In 1951, an eight story glass and marble annex designed by Minoru Yamasaki, the architect who designed the World Trade Center, was added and connected to the 1927 structure.

"Downtown Detroit continues its rapid ascent to greatness. If you were still skeptical, the announcement of a world-class architectural and design firm like ROSSETTI locating its headquarters to the urban core should remove any lingering doubts. 'Opportunity Detroit' is real and it's where the new entrepreneurial companies and creative class will be doing their thing for years to come," said Dan Gilbert, Chairman of Rock Ventures.

A spokesperson for Rock Ventures, said ROSSETTI has also been hired by Bedrock Real Estate Services, a real estate firm specializing in purchasing, leasing, financing, developing and managing of commercial space, to redesign the entire building, breathing life into the celebrated bank building by developing state-of-the-art, unique and creative offices and ground floor retail spaces.

Matt Rossetti , President of ROSSETTI, said the firm, currently based in Southfield, Michigan, is looking forward to moving back to the city, where it was initially founded in 1969. "Our team is thrilled about working in downtown Detroit, given the urban nature of our designs and our business," said Rossetti. "The city is becoming a creative center attracting some of this country's most innovative and inspiring artists, designers and new economy business. There is so much energy in the city that it made perfect sense to return to our roots and come back home and seize the opportunity in Detroit.

"The redesign will pay homage to the architectural significance of the past and respect its ancestral bones," Rossetti added. "At the same time, we plan to incorporate new workplace design concepts, such as an open floor plan, collaborative team spaces and use of natural materials."